Fluid control valve



fl- 1945- M. T. KNUTZEN FLUID CONTROL VALVE I Filed May '7, 1945 N RE OZ TT Nu EN W T. fv B 5 7. 9 m 3 5 0 4 M. I 9 5 7 mp6 Patented Aug. 7, 1945 Q I FLUID coN'rnoL VALVE Max '1. Knutzcn, Dundas, Ontario, Canada, as-

slgnor to The John Bertram & lted, Dundas, Ontario, Canada,

Canada Application May 7, 19

14 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid control valves.

Fluid control valves of the general type concerned have been used for a period of yearsand particularly in relation to the control of hoist mechanism for actuating the brakes of the hoist to full on position as required in normal operating conditions or under conditions of emerg'ency. There have been, however, some dis ad vantages in the prior type of valve. On the one hand-its operation was such that the clutch of of the'hoist drum might be unclutched prior to the complete application of the brakes unless the Sons Co. Lima company of v 43, Serial No. 485,963

tion associated with mechanism for controlling the brake application of a hoist.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken through the valve body to show its operating parts; and I Fig. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary detail of the upper part of the valve casing.

control mechanism was very finely adjusted. On

the other hand, due to sluggish operation of the valve caused by sticking of the valveplunger due to its packings. the brake might not be applied when required. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior type of valve andthe eflect of these problems as applied to hoist operation or the operation of any other type of mechanism controlled in a similar manner.

It is. therefore, an object of the present invention to devise a fluid control valve which avoids the necessity of packings, thus eliminating sluggish operation or sticking of the valve plungers due to the packings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve of this character wherein the construction, of the valve is such as to provide for cleancut instantaneous action of the valve mechanism in response to actuation during normal course of operation.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- With these and other objects in view, the mventlon generally comprises a valve casing having fluid inlet and outlet ports and a pair of valve plungers controlling said ports, one. in the case of emergency and one in the case of normal operation designed to control thefeeding of fluid to and from fluid operated means with which the valve is associated, the valve including a fluid operatedcheck valve to insure sharp operation of the valve and to eliminate fluid pressure inparts oif the valve, thus contributing to elimina-. tion of the useof packing or the like in the valve structure. The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed speciflcation taken in conjunction with the accom-f .flpanying na l m the drawing Pig. '1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the valve mechanism according to the'present inven- Referring -to the drawing, the operation of the valve structure may be conveniently illustrated by referring to one of its fields of application, viz. a control of the brakes of a hoist.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, A indicates a hoist drum mounted on a shaft l0 driven from any suitable source of power to rotate the hoist drum. Associated with the hoist drum is brake mechanism B which may include the brakes H disposed on each side of the drum in opposed relation (one side not illustrated) the brakes being operated through the levers l2 and I3 which connect through suitable link structure illustrated by the dotted lines I4 and I5 with a main brake operating lever It. The levers I2 and i3 'arelink connected beyond their points of ful- ,vide a valve of this character which is generally simple in construction.

v be referred to in detail hereinafter.

crum with the opposite brake mechanism, the link connection'being illustrated by the dotted lines ll. v

The main brake operating lever i6 is controlled by the mechanism C which comprises a fluid cylinder l8 having a piston therewithin which operates the cross-head l9 through its piston rod 20, the piston being lowered by gravity through weights (not shown) which may be connected with the cross-head and being raised by a fluid medium passed to and from the cylinder l8 by means of. the fluid control valve D which will The cross-head I9 is connected by way of the links 2! to the free end of the main brake operating lever it as indicated at 22 so that if the piston within the cylinder I8 is lowered, the

' main brake operating lever It in lowering will pull the levers l2 and 13 which, by means of its; link connections I1 with the opposite brake unit,

will cause unit II and the opposite brake unit 48 to grip the drum and apply the brakes.

to its normal operating is operating, the main brake applying lever I6 will HOW- ever, upon raising the pistonwithin cylinder I8 position when the hoist be positioned as shown in Fig. 1, in which position the brakes are released from the drum and it may operate.

The operative parts of the valve of the present invention. are shown clearly in Figs. 2 and-3. A

fluid inlet 23 is controlled by'the valve plunger 24' which includes the piston members 25 and 26 connected by the reduced portion of the plunger 21. When the plunger is in its raised position, fluid may pass from the inlet 23 through the port 23 and through the passageway 29 to the feed passage 33 through the port 3|. The latter port is controlled by a valve plunger 32 which has piston members 33 and34 connected by a reduced portion 36, and in its raised position as shown in Fig. 2 will permit flow of fluid from the passageway 29 through the port 3| to the feed passage 30.

In the present illustration of the application of the valve, the feed passage 50 communicates with the cylinder l6 to supply fluid to the underside of the piston contained therein or to permit such fluidjo flow back through the passage 30 to a discharge outlet 36 when the valve plungers are" set in a position to permit communica tion between the i'eed passage 30 and the outlet 36. The lower piston 26 of plunger 24 controls the valve port 31, while the lower piston member 34 of plunger 32 controls the valve, port 38, each of which ports when opened will permit flow of fluid directly to the discharge outlet 36. The lower portion of the valve casing contains the chambers 39 connected by the passage 40, which in turn is connected with the transverse passage 4|. These passages are filled with fluid, the lower chambers being designed to balance the valve along with the upper chambers 42 connected by the passa e 43 and the side passage 44 which is dividedby a suitable partition 45 and contains therein a fluid actuated check valve 46. The 'lpwemcnd aiis-tpassage 44 communicates with passage 4| and the discharge outlet 36..

Let itbe assumed that this valve-structure is connected, as shown in Fig. 1, with the brake operating mechanism for a hoist. In this connection the valve plunger 32 is connected as at 41 with the plunger 48 of a solenoid 49 which, during the operation of the hoist, is energized by an electrical circuit so that the valve plunger 32 will be in the raised position shown in Fig. 2. The valve plunger 24 isconnected through a suitable link 60 pivoted at to an arm carried on the shaft 52, the opposite end of the link being pivotally connected by the link 53 with the mainoperating lever |6 of the hoist brake mechanism. In the position shown in Fig. 1 where the main lever, I6 is in normal position with the brakes released, the valve plunger 24 will be raised uncovering the port 26 permitting fluid to flow from the pressure system through this port through passageway 23, open port 3| and feed passage 30 to the bottom of the cy1inder |8, thus maintaining the piston therein raised.

Let us assume, however, that an emergency has arisen such as the hoist travelling at overspeed' or beyond position. These conditions are controlled by well known means which is generally known as Lilly control mechanism" connected in circuit with the solenoid and also including a movable lever which may act to operate lever 54 and its connections to accelerate theoperation of This closes the port 3| releasing the pressur through the feed passage 36 and ventingsuch' passageway through the port 36. and passageway II to the outlet 36. At the same time sincethe passageway 4| and outlet 36 communicate with the lower end of passageway 44 the fluid diacharging from the cylinder l8 in the gravity operated piston will immediately close check valve 5 46. This assures, therefore, that the fluid discharging fr'om cylinder It will discharge through the port .36 positively and consequently a quick and instantaneous lowering of the piston in cylinder l8 results. Moreover, by reason of the fact that the check valve 46 prevents pressure being transmitted through the upper end of a passage 44 to the upper part ofthe valve casing, such part of the valve casing isnot subjected to pressure. Therefore, I am able to provide a structure wherein it is not necessary to employ conventional packing or stufllng boxes for the plunger rods of the plungers 24 and 32.

With the lowering of the piston in cylinder it, the main brake operating lever immediately lowers and through the links l4 and I5 pivoted on each side of the fulcrum of the lever l6, levers l2 and I3 are operated towards each other and acting through their link connections ll with the opposed brake unit apply the brakes B to their full on position, thus stopping the hoist.

With the lowering of the main brake operating lever l6 the link 50 is caused to pivot on its fulcrum 5| raising valve plunger 24, but by reason of the fact that the port 3| is closed by plunger 32 and port 3? is closed by the reason of plunger 24 the fluid medium under pressure would have no effect.

7 When the abnormal conditions causing emergency operation of the valve have been corrected and the electric circuit is again established energizing the solenoid 49, the valve plunger 32 will be raised again to open port 3| and close port 38. Consequently since valve plunger 23 is in its raised position the pressure medium again immediately flows through port 3| to feed passage 30, thus forcing thepiston in cylinder to back'to its raised position and releasing the.

brakes.

The shaft 52 is designed to be rotated by means of a manual control lever (not shown) which controls the operation of an arm rigidly carried on shaft 52 and to which the link is pivoted 'as at 6|. Consequently, if the shaft 52 is rotated to normal brake applying position wherein the shaft 52 is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, the arm and its pivot point 5| with'the link so will be moved downwardly. The lowering of the fulcrum point 5| will force valve plunger 2% downwardly, thus cutting ofi' port 28 and opening port 31. As a result the feed passage 30 through port 3| and passage 39 will be connected with the discharge outlet 36 so that the piston in cylinder l8 will immediately move downwardly under its weight and apply the brakes in a similar manner as that described in connection with the operation of plunger 32. Thus plunger 24 controls the brakes under normal conditions, while plunger 32 does the same work under abnormal condi- I tions.

Theoperation of the valve plungers is similar to the. operation in prior constructions. However,

the salient features of the present vai've lie in a fluid pressure which necessitates the use of packings.

In the present construction it is only necessary to employ oil grooves 55 in the plunger rods which maintain lubrication and accommodate any oil that might pass between the rods and their bushings 56, a more detailed arrangement of which is shown in Fig. 3. In the prior type of construction not only were the plunger rods and their bushings subjected to fluid pressure by reason oi operation, but normally they were'subjected to the gravity pressure ofthe fluid body within the valve. In the present structure, the bottom of the'valve casing is completely sealed by suitable means such as the plugs 51.

In order to provide against the possibility of an air lock developing within the valve casing, I provide a breather valve 58 provided with the breathing openings 59 and preferably including a screen 60 to prevent the admission of foreign material to the valve; In consequence of this general arrangement, therefore, the valve plungers will always work freely and by reason of the fact that no packings are involved, the plungers will not be caused to stick as has been the case in prior practice, whereas the pressure relieving check valve 48 assures the positive and instantaneous discharge of the fluid medium through the port 36 when operation of the mechanism controlled requires this action.

While the vdve of the present invention has been: illustrated in conjunction with the operation of the brake mechanism of a hoist, it is obvious of course that it has a general application in other flelds where fluid control of the kind in question is required.

It will, of course, be obvious that the invention of plungers but is also applicable to a valve employing one plunger as, for instance, theplunger .24 operating between the inlet and outlet 23 and 36 respectively wherein the passage 29 might form the feedingpassageway instead of the feed passageway 30. Thus, such a structure would operate in exactly the same manner and provide a sharp acting packingless valve.

While the valve of the present invention has been illustrated in conjunction with the operation of the brake mechanism of a hoist; it is obvious of course that it has a general application and the outlet, operable under pressure of the nected with said outlet and means disposed between said connected chambers, operable .by pressure of the fluid passing through the valve to the lower chamber and outlet for isolating the upper chamber from said fluid pressure.

3. A packingless fluid control valve comprising a casing having 1 plunger controlling the flow or fluid therethrough, connecting upper and lower fluid chambers in the casing capable of draining leakage fluid from the upper chamber to the lower. chamber, said valve plunger having a part thereof passing through said upper through the upper part of the casing for operating connections, a breather in connection with said valve for venting the upper chamber to atmosphere, said lower chamber communicating with the outlet and means disposed between said connected chambers operable by pressure of the fluid passing through the valve to the lower chamber and outlet for isolating the upper chamber from the said fluid pressure. 1

4. A packingless fluid control valve comprising a casing having a fluid inlet and outlet and a valve plunger controlling the flow of fluid there-' through, said valve plunger being disposed to project upwardly through the casing, fluid drainage means in the upper portion of the valve, co nmunicating with said plunger, operatively connected to the outlet to drain leakage fluid thereto, and means between the fluid drainage means fluid during its passage through the valve to the outlet, for isolating the upper portion of the valve from such fluid pressure, said valve plunger being provided with oil grooves for its lubrication in v the area where it passes through the casing.

is not confined to a valve employing a plurality 5. A packingless fluid control valve comprising a casing having a fluidinlet and a fluid outlet and a feed passage, a plurality of valve plungers controlling the flow of fluid therethrough between the inlet and feed passage and outlet and feed passage, connecting upper and part thereof passing lower fluid chambers in the casing capable of draining leakage fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, said valve plungers having a through said upper chamher and projecting through the upper part of in other fields where fluid control of the kind in and having a part thereof projected through an upper portion of the casing, for operating connections, fluid drainage means in the upper portion 01' the valve communicating with said plunger to drain leakage fluid to the outlet and mean operable by the pressure of discharging fluid passing through the valve, for isolating the upper portion or the valve from the pressure of said discharging fluid.

2. A packingless fluid control valve comprising a casing having a fluid inlet and outlet, a valve flow of fluid therethrough,

plunger controlling the connecting upper and lower fluid. chambers in the casing capable ofdraining leakage fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, said 9 valve plunger having a part thereof passing through said upper chamber, and projecting through the, upper part of the casing for operating connections, said lower chamber being conthe casing for operating connections, said lower chamber being connected with the outlet and means disposed between said connected chambers operable by pressure of the fluid passing through the valve from feed passage to outlet, for isolating the upper chamber from pressure 01' such fluid,

6. A packingless fluid control valve as claimed in claim 5 in which a breather is included, de-- signed to vent the upper chamber to the atmosphere. 1

'1. A packingless fluid control valve as claimed in claim 5 in which the upper and lower chambers are connected by a common passageway, the

latter having a partition therein formed with a port, and in which the means for isolating the upper chamber from fluid pressure consists of a check'valve operatively carried in the partition and responsive to the pressure of the fluid passing through the valveto port in the partition.

, 8. A packingless fluid control valve as claimed in claim 5 in which. the valve plungers are provided with circumferentially extending oil grooves in that area where they pass through the casing.

9. A fluid control valve comprising a casing 7 having a fluid inlet and outlet and a valve plunga fluid inlet and outlet, a valve chamber, and projecting the outlet for closing the er controlling the flow or fluid therethrough, a feed passage connected with said inlet and outlet as controlled by said valve plunger, said valve plunger being disposed to project upwardly through the casing, fluid drainage means in'the "for isolating the upper portion of the valve from said fluid pressure.

ing a casing having a fluid inlet and outlet and a valve plunger controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, said valve plunger bein disposed to project upwardly through the casing, connecting'means passing through the upper wall of the casing for connecting said valve with operating means exteriorly of the casing, a fluiddrainage 10. A fluid control valve comprising a casing having a fluid inlet and outlet, a valve plunger controlling the flow oi fluid therethrough, upper and lower fluid chambers in the casing substantially at opposite ends of said plunger, a passage connecting said upper and lower chambers, said plunger having a part thereofpassing through 1 said upper chamber and projecting through the upper partof the casingfor operating connections, said' lower chamber being connected with said outlet, a breather communicating with the upper'portion of said passage and the upper chamber for venting the latter to the atmosphere, and means disposed in said passage operable by the pressure of the fluid passing through the valve to the outlet-for chamber from such pressure.

11. A fluid control valve as claimed in claim 10 in which the breather comprises a nipple-like member removably mounted in the casing commufi'cating with the upper'portion oi the valve cas g;

isolating the upper 12. A packingless fluid control valve comprischamber in the upper portion of the casing, a drainage channel extending between said chamber and said outlet, and means operable under pressure, of the fluid during its passage through the valve to the outlet for shutting off said chanhe] and isolating the upper portion of the valve from fluid pressure.

13. A packingless fluid control valve as claimed in claim 12, including means for venting the upper portion of the valve to atmosphere.

14. A packingless fluid control valve comprising a casing having a fluid inlet and outlet and a valve plunger controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, said valve plunger projecting from the upper portion of the casing, for operating connections, said casing having upper and lower fluid chambers through which said valve plunger is designed to pass, said lower chamber being connected with the outlet, a passageway connectin said chambers designed to drain leakage fluid from the upper chamber, and a check valve in said passageway, operable in response to fluid pressure during passage of fluid through said valve to the outlet, to isolate the upper chamber from such fluid pressure, wherebv said plunger may be mounted in said casing without packings.

MAX T. IQTUTZEN. 

